Maintaining an appropriate hydration level is critical for a human's health and vitality. Today, large numbers of people attend many different events, often in crowded and hot areas. It is easy for people to become dehydrated in these types of situations, and many different solutions have been used to help address this problem.
A typical solution is to license vendors to sell bottled water at these large events. This approach, however, is expensive, inefficient and wasteful. The consumer typically pays a high price for a small, prefilled bottle of water that provides adequate hydration for only a short time. Further, there is often no way to refill this bottle and, as such, the consumer must purchase another bottle. Because of the cost, people are hesitant to buy the amount of fluid needed to keep properly hydrated. Furthermore, the dispensing of the fluid is inefficient since people must stand in line and pay for the fluid each time. Vendors must guess, based on weather forecasts and predicted attendance, the appropriate quantity to have on hand. Finally, the waste, in the form of empty plastic bottles, can create environmental concerns.
Other approaches have also been used. In one approach, a platform with wheels is used. Several fountain bubblers or other water dispensers are attached to the top of the platform. Tubing is routed beneath the platform and attached to the water dispensers. A water source is then connected to the platform at a single point to supply all of the water dispensers with a water stream. This approach has several shortcomings: unpredictable taste, difficult dispensing and susceptibility to vandalism. For instance, the water quality can vary in different locations across the country and this system has no water treatment capabilities. Also, left unused in the heat of the day, the water can become very warm and, hence, unpleasant to drink. Additionally, since the water dispenser is attached to the top of the shallow platform, only certain size drinking containers can be easily filled. Finally, despite weighing about 70 lbs. and taking up significant square footage, the unit is so delicate that it must be placed in a secure storage area each evening.
Another approach is to install a semi-permanent structure that must be monitored while water is dispensed. While this system can, with enough time and manpower, be torn down, moved and rebuilt in another location, it is in no way portable. It is also difficult to locate large numbers of these devices in various places around an event, especially if the event spans a large area, to adequately provide enough fluid to hydrate the crowd. The manpower and expense of this type of solution does not lend itself to wide adoption.
Yet another approach is to have a large, customized trailer that is towed into place and hooked to the local water supply. Disposable cups are filled by authorized personnel. However, these trailers are expensive to construct and operate, have a large footprint which limits where they can operate, generate waste, and are also not very portable.
Based on the above, there remains a need for a low cost, portable, efficient method of dispensing fluid to a great number of people.